Even Crooked Roads Lead Somewhere
by AlexandEarlGrey
Summary: Lorelai is struggling with her newly diagnosed empty nest syndrome and the happiness of those closest to her doesn't seem to be helping. After finding that she and Luke are having a similar problem, a crazy idea brings them together in a most unconventional way. Season 4, no Jason, no Nicole.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome, avid readers! This is my first story here on . I read a story very similar to this one on this site and, with the author's permission, decided to revamp it. The original story has been removed since I first read it, so I hope this one will live up to its legacy. Enjoy! Please tell me your thoughts when you finish. I will be more motivated to post more if I know you are reading and enjoying!

Chapter 1

"Coffee. In a vat. Through an IV and directly into my bloodstream." I threw my purse down onto the counter and slumped into a chair. Letting my face fall into my fuzzy gray glove covered hands, I gave the hundredth heavy sigh of the day, and it was only 6 in the evening. Plenty more time for even more heavy sighs.

"Bad day?" Luke asked, as if it wasn't obvious.

"Terrible day. I don't know how we're ever going to make it to opening day. Sookie and I are going to kill each other before we get there."

"I can't imagine you guys ever killing each other," he said as he set down my favorite blue mug in front of me and filled it with the steaming dark liquid that is my life support.

"Oh we would definitely regret it afterwards, however we are both reaching the point where we can't do anything without each other but we can't stand each other either. She thinks I am being too controlling and unsympathetic of her new mom responsibilities, and she keeps dropping the ball on everything she promises to do to help." I removed my gloves, wrapped my hands around the warm ceramic, and brought the cup to my lips. As I drank, the combination of warmth and caffeine slowly brought me back to the land of the sane.

Luke leaned both hands on the counter in front of him and asked in a low voice, "Are you being unsympathetic of her new mom responsibilities?"

"No!" I said in shock that he would really suggest such a thing. I took a moment to think about it and realized I was probably being a little unreasonable. "Okay, maybe I am. But she's starting this business too."

"Yes, she is," Luke agreed with a tilt of the head.

"You've got something else to say, I can tell."

"No, I don't." He stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. He reconsidered, "it just seems like you've got something else on your mind. You've been in this mood for a while."

"So suddenly you're an expert on the ever changing moods of Lorelai Gilmore?" I regretted how I said it as soon as the words left my mouth. I could see Luke was taken aback by what I said too.

"No, sorry, I was just trying to help. God knows why," he said, turning around to take care of an elderly couple that had just walked in the door.

"Luke, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," I said when he came back. He just stood in front of me, arms crossed, giving me a stern look. I considered telling him what was really on my mind. He was my closest friend after Sookie and Rory. And considering the current state of my relationship with Sookie, and the nature of my frustration being a little more mature than I was willing to share with Rory, I decided confiding in Luke might actually be a good idea.

"Fine. There is something else bothering me." I waited to see if he would relax his defensive pose; he did as soon as I let my guard down. He gave me the one-fingered "hold-on" gesture, turned around to accept a couple plates from Cesar, swiftly delivered them to the table next to the door, and resumed his place across from me behind the counter.

"Go ahead. I'm listening," he said, and I knew he was telling the truth.

I looked down in my lap, trying to decide if I really wanted to bare myself like this to Luke. I wasn't sure what kind of advice he could offer me. But, it might feel nice just to get it off of my chest. "Lately, I've been feeling a little extra lonely. Rory's off at college and Sookie is as happy as can be with her perfect little family, and I'm just sitting at home by myself at night wishing I had someone to care for." I finally tore my eyes away from my lap to see Luke's reaction. His gaze was blank at first glance, but the longer I looked, I could see his calm understanding of the feelings I was trying to express.

"I understand," he finally said. "I didn't know how alone I felt until Jess wasn't here anymore. But I try to stay busy and it keeps my mind off of it."

"Me too. Most nights, I'm so tired after all the work I've been doing for the inn that I can't even think about it. But then there are times where I just can't help it."

"You'll get it, Lorelai. I know I've told you this before. You will find the person you're supposed to find." It was a little shocking to hear Luke be so sentimental, but I found that I really liked it. I smiled back up at him.

"It's not even that, really. I do want a man to depend on, but what I've been thinking about lately is my aging ovaries."

"Oh, geez," he groaned, and stepped back a bit.

"I'm sorry, I just mean that I'm not getting any younger and I would really like another kid or two. I see Sookie with Davey every day and I can't help but feel jealous. Do you ever think about starting a family?"

He considered his answer before saying simply, "I do."

"I think you would be a great dad."

"I'm not so sure." Just then, the dinner rush seemed to suddenly pick back up. A rush of people streamed into the diner and Luke's attention was ripped away. I had a good book and a tub of ice cream waiting for me at home, so I got up from my place at the counter and prepared myself to face the icy wind.

I stopped Luke as he moved between tables before leaving. "Thanks for listening, Luke. I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Lorelai."

I drove home without turning the radio on, parked in front of the garage, and walked somberly into the house. After changing into my most unattractive but comfortable pajamas, I grabbed the carton of ice cream from the freezer, a spoon from the drawer, and decided to forgo the bowl altogether. I plopped myself on the couch, threw the ice cream lid on the coffee table, retrieved my book from the floor, and opened it up to where I left off the night before.

For hours, I tried my hardest to focus on the words that Charlotte Bronte had written, but governess Jane just couldn't hold my attention. I found my mind drifting to my conversation with Luke. Who would have guessed that he thought about starting a family too? Any other person who went through what he did with Jess would probably strongly reconsider the idea of bringing more children into the world. But Luke still had the desire.

I could just imagine Luke as a father; he would definitely be the kind of dad who would buy his daughter a doll. Luke with a little girl – the image of a gruff Luke spinning his five year old daughter in the air, her long dark curls flying behind her, was about the most adorable thing I could think of. Wait, no, Luke and his five year old son, in the front yard, tossing a baseball back and forth. That was the about the most adorable thing I could think of.

Suddenly, it hit me; Luke wants to be a father. I want to be a mother. Again. What's stopping us from doing it together? It was the most brilliant idea I ever came up with. We were already friends, we could raise our kids together.

I put my shoes back on and threw my coat over my shoulders, barely taking the time to push my arms through the holes before I rushed out the door again. I didn't realize how late it must have been until I stepped outside. I didn't remember night falling. I must have been day dreaming for hours. I walked as quickly as I could through the streets of Stars Hollow towards Luke's diner. My feet pounding the pavement was the only sound disturbing the still night air. I had one thing on my mind and nothing was stopping me until I got it. I arrived at the diner just in time to see Luke disappearing behind the curtain. With a grin on my face, I rapped my fist on the glass of the door until he turned around to greet me with a questioning look on his face. I couldn't wait to share my brilliant idea with him.

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Luke turned around and looked at me from his place in the doorway leading up to his apartment. He gave an annoyed sigh and walked over to the door, unlocked and opened it, and said "Do you know what time it is? I just finished cleaning everything up."

I pushed past him and let myself in, shutting the door behind me. "I know, I'm sorry it's so late, but I had to come over."

"You're much happier than you were earlier," he noticed.

"You're right, I am," I nodded with a grin.

"You're also in your pajamas," he said with a smirk.

I looked down and saw my ugly gray sweatpants and blue t shirt with the giant bleached out spot in the middle underneath my pick pea coat. I looked ridiculous and I didn't care. I looked back up at him, still with a smile on my face. "Whoops, oh well," I said without a worry.

He looked back at me, a little bit of concern on his face. "Have you finally officially lost it?"

"No! Actually, I've finally got it all together. I need to talk to you about something."

"All right," he said, still clearly concerned for my sanity.

"Can we go upstairs? This is sort of apartment talk, not diner talk."

"What's the difference between diner talk and apartment talk?"

"It's important. Really important. The rest of our lives important."

Luke's face turned serious as he relocked the door, closed the blinds, and motioned for me to go upstairs. I practically ran up the steps as he slowly trudged up behind me. "Come on slow poke! Don't make me break out my spurs!"

"I'm coming, keep your shorts on."

"Did you just use a Simpson's reference on me?" I said in shock.

"Don't be so surprised, I know things too." He finally arrived on the landing and opened the door, ushering me in. "Do you want something to drink?"

I bounced into the kitchen behind him, ready to burst with my idea but trying to reign in my excitement to keep from freaking him out. "Got any champagne? We'll want champagne to celebrate the night that we came to our senses."

"Beer's the best I can do," he said, grabbing two bottles from the top shelf of his fridge.

"Beer is perfect!"

He twisted the cap off of each bottle and handed me one. He set his bottle on the table, pulled out a chair, and motioned for me to take seat. "Yes, you're right, this is definitely sitting conversation," I said.

"Are you going to share this great idea you came up with in the hours since I saw you last?" he asked after he took his own seat.

Finding myself in need of a confidence boost, I took a long pull on my beer. Swallowing hard, I tried to find the right words for my pitch. I set my bottle down a good four feet in front of me, afraid I would knock it over with my shaking hands if I set it too close. When had I suddenly become so nervous? It's now or never, Gilmore, I thought to myself. "So earlier, we were talking about our mutual need for a family. How we're both not getting any younger and our windows for having any chance at a family are growing smaller and smaller."

"I remember. Go on," he folded his hands on the table and looked at me, his expression thoroughly confused.

I cleared my throat, just for something to do. "Well, I was thinking, and just hear me out before you have an aneurism." He continued to start at me. "I want kids, and you want kids, right?"

"Yes."

"We, you and I, that is, the two of us, could have kids together," I said as quickly as possible.

Crickets. I could hear a dog barking a few streets over.

"Did you hear me?" I asked, suddenly concerned that I had said it so quickly he couldn't understand me.

He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Oh, I heard you, I'm just trying to decide who I can call this time of night to get you checked into the loony bin, because you really have officially lost it."

"No! I haven't! What is so crazy about this idea?"

"Seriously?" he questioned as he got to his feet.

I stood up too. "Yes, seriously! We both want kids. You admitted it in the diner earlier today. We are already friends. You have a steady job and a steady income and I will have a steady job and income once the inn is up and running. This might be a little vain, but I think I've got a pretty stellar reference for the mother position sitting at Yale right now if you want to give her a call."

"You do," he quickly agreed.

A little taken aback by his firm affirmation of my ability as a mother, I sat back down at the table and asked quietly, "so what's the problem?"

He stayed standing with his hand on his hips. "The problem is that neither of us is good at relationships."

"You're right, we both royally suck at romantic relationships. But that's why this is such a great idea. We are both really awesome at friendly relationships."

"So we would just stay friends?"

"Yes."

"But we would have a kid together."

"Yes."

"How is that going to work?"

"Luke, if I need to have that talk with you-"

"Lorelai," he cut me off. "You know that's not what I mean. I just mean, that, will complicate things."

I stood up and walked over to stand directly in front of him. I mirrored his stance and put my hands on my own hips. "Not if we don't let it. This could be really great."

He hung his head and sighed, standing in silence for a few moments. "Will you give me some time to think about it?" he asked, finally looking up at me.

I smiled, knowing I had pretty much already won. "Absolutely. Take as much time as you need. But not too much, remember those aging ovaries of mine?"

"Geez, Lorelai, I thought I told you not to say that," he said, picking up his beer again and downing almost all of it in one gulp.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you just meant in the diner," I teased.

"Never. Never use the word," he struggled to get it out, and finally decided on "never use anatomical terms in my presence ever."

"Oh, okay, that's much clearer." I smiled at his nervousness. "Thanks for hearing me out, Luke. I'll leave you to your thinking." I leaned up and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek that seemed to leave him rooted to the spot. I walked to the door, opened it, and turned to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, for real this time."

He finally looked back up at me. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Luke."

The walk home was a lot louder than the walk there, at least inside my head. On the way, all I could think about was getting to the diner in time. Now, I had so many things running through my head all at once, I almost felt dizzy. I hoped a good night's sleep would help clear things up.

The next morning, I woke up feeling so light and happy. I knew exactly what I wanted. I was feeling so sure about what happened the night before; I knew it was only a matter of time before Luke realized how great the idea was too. I got ready for work in record time so that I could make a pit stop at the diner. I parked the jeep right outside and walked in, taking my usual spot next to the cash register. It took a few minutes, but Luke finally came out of the kitchen to take my order.

"What can I get you?" he asked as he placed my blue mug in front of me again and filled it to the brim.

"Hmmm… This morning, I'm thinking pancakes, bacon, and sausage."

"You got it," he said, turning his back on me to go help another customer. He never looked up at me. In fact, he didn't look at me the entire time I was there. Suddenly I wasn't feeling so sure that he would say yes.

I stood up to pay my bill and he came to help me at the cash register. Once we had settled up, I said goodbye and turned to leave, becoming even more disappointed each moment he didn't mention anything. I put my hand on the door knob when he called for me to stop.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm still thinking about it," he said, finally looking up at me.

I smiled back at him, relieved to know he wasn't ignoring the situation. "Thanks. I'll see you later," I said, and strolled back to the car with a little more pep in my step.

The day at the Dragonfly-to-be went a lot better than the day before. Sookie convinced Jackson to stay home for the day so that she could devote more time to the inn, and I apologized for being so rude the day before. It wouldn't be our last spat by any means, but at least we were back on smooth ground for the time being.

Sookie and I went back to my house for lunch, where she scratched her cooking itch for the first time in months. "All I have time for at home is simple stuff. Every time I turn around, Davey is hungry again and I have to feed him or Jackson is hungry again and I have to shove some crackers and cheese at him. It's blasphemy! My kitchen I crying!" she lamented.

"It bet! It misses you. You'll get back to it eventually, once things calm down."

"I know. Thanks for letting me do this in the meantime," she said as she stirred something magnificent on my barely used stove.

"Seriously? You can use my kitchen to satisfy any cooking related urge any time, my friend," I said before taking a bite of one of her freshly made stuffed peppers.

"Way to throw a 'cooking related' in there to keep it clean," she giggled.

"Hey, there will be nothing dirty going on in this kitchen. Unless George Clooney comes over. Then there will be dirty things all over the house."

Sookie giggle again. "Speaking of which, how has your love life been? Still high and dry?"

I smirked to myself, then hoped she didn't notice. "Actually, there may be something happening soon, but it's sort of complicated."

"Oh really? With who? Complicated how?" she grilled me.

"I really can't say. I don't want to spoil anything." I really didn't. I knew if Luke found out I told anyone anything, he would back out in a second. Of course, he would have to back in first.

"Oh come on, you can't throw me a bone and then yank it right back. That's against the rules!"

"Sorry, Charlie. My lips are sealed."

"Fine. You'll keep me posted, though?"

"I promise. As soon as I can say anything, I will call you right away." She seemed satisfied with my answer as she spooned a heavenly red sauce over handmade pasta and baked chicken. "Where in the world did you find a pasta machine in this kitchen anyway?"

"I didn't! I brought it with me in my bag!" She pulled out a giant metal contraption from her tote bag to show me.

"You've been carrying that around with you all day?" She nodded, her grin stretching across her face. "That was one hell of an itch, Sook."

Later that evening, I was too tired to go to the diner for dinner, and I figured it would be better if Luke didn't feel like I was rushing him anyway. To my surprise, I heard a knock on my door around nine o'clock that evening.

"Figures. Of course I'm already in my ugly pajamas again." I got up to answer the door and found Luke huffing and puffing on the other side. "Luke? What are you doing here? Did you run?"

"No, I didn't run, I'm just frustrated. Don't you have any other clothes?" he asked as he pushed past me and closed the door, the same way I did the night before.

"It's laundry day," I said with a wave of my hand. "Is something wrong?"

He marched into the living room, sat down, and stood back up again. "Okay, Luke, I think you are the one who has lost it now."

"You never came back into the diner tonight. You said you would come back."

"I'm sorry, I just got really tired. It was a busy day at the inn so I just had leftovers."

"I was expecting you to come back in and when you didn't, I thought you'd changed your mind."

"I haven't changed my mind. If anything, I'm even more sure than I was last night."

"How can you be so sure I'll be good at this? I've already proven I can't hack it with Jess. Who's to say I won't screw up another kid?"

"You didn't screw up Jess, Luke. He came screwed up. He needed a lot more help than you could offer him in two years."

"But how do you know I won't screw up this time?"

"No one ever knows, Luke, but if you need proof, just look at Rory."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Rory is not my kid. She's yours, and she turned out perfectly because of you. We know you'll be good at this, but I could be a hot mess."

"Luke, she may not be your kid, but you definitely had a hand in raising her. You brought ice to her birthday party after giving her balloons the day before, you helped her with many a home-ec project, you are the one who finally taught her to tie her shoes, you carried her inside the diner and tended to her scraped knees when she was learning to ride a bike, and you went to her caterpillar's funeral." He stared at me, still unsure. "Should I go on?"

"No."

"I said before that you could call Rory for a reference for me if you wanted to, but you could just as easily call her for your own reference."

He thought it over for a few silent moments. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he chewed his lip. "You're sure? You're absolutely sure?" he asked, with one hand on his hip and the other with his hat in his hand rubbing his head.

"One hundred and twenty percent positive."

After a few beats, he said, "Okay."

Not knowing what he meant, I took a few steps closer to him and said "Okay what?"

He stepped back once and said "Okay, I'll do it. I think we should do this."

The grin on my face was so big it almost hurt. "Really?! Oh Luke, you won't regret it!" I jumped up and down and threw myself at him, almost knocking him over. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. In spite of himself, he smiled back at me.

"So, when are we supposed to start?" he asked when I finally peeled myself away.

"Well, I know you don't want me to use anatomical terms, but-"

"I think it's sort of necessary now."

"I won't be, uhm, fertile, until Sunday, at least according to the calendar. So maybe we should start Saturday just in case."

"Okay. Saturday. My place or yours?"

"I live next door to the biggest gossip in town, so we better make it your place."

"Okay."

"We can talk more about logistics and things then."

"Good, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now anyway."

"I can tell," I said as I followed him back to the front door.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked as he replaced his hat on his head.

"Yes, I promise you will see me tomorrow." He gave a small wave goodbye and walked off into the night. I smiles to myself as I closed the door behind him. This was going to be the start of a really great thing.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

I couldn't wait til Saturday. I had to find ways to fill in my time until then so I wouldn't go crazy with anticipation, which is why I found myself walking around Yale's campus on Friday night looking for my collegiate daughter.

"Mom?" I heard from across the courtyard. The sweet angelic tone of voice and the fact that there probably weren't many other mothers on a college campus tipped me off that it was probably Rory.

"Offspring? Where are you?" I looked around, pretending I couldn't find her. Rory ran up to me and laughed.

"What are you doing here?" She smiled as she bounced in excitement in front of me. "Was I expecting you?"

"No, I've just been going a little stir crazy at home so I decided to drop by. I probably should have called first," I added as an afterthought.

"No! This is great! Why were you wandering around though? Didn't you think I'd be in my dorm?"

"I did, actually. I tried there first but Janet answered the door and she was jumping up and down and sweating and she said she thought you went for a walk. I was afraid I'd get wet or knocked in the head by a flailing arm, so I decided to just wander around until I found you," I finished with a flourish.

"Well I'm glad you did! Do you want to go inside somewhere? It's freezing out here," she said as she hugged her coat tighter around her shoulders.

"Yes, absolutely. What are the chances your roommate is still perspiring?"

Rory checked her watch and thought for a moment. "She'll be perspiring for another hour at least. She doesn't usually wind down until nine. And then she goes in her room and does more yoga."

"Yikes. Wanna go for a ride? I saw a great looking taco place on the way here."

Rory's eyes lit up. "Oh Fernando's! I can't believe I haven't taken you there yet! You drive, but the food's on me. It's the only way I can make up for this oversight."

"No arguments from me," I said as she followed me to the jeep, laughing as she half-skipped all the way.

Too many tacos and a crappy margarita each later, we sat stuffed and staring at each other, having exhausted all things we needed to catch up on. All but one thing, of course. "So Rory, I have something I need to tell you."

Rory looked back at me quizzically. "What's up?" she questioned.

I opened my mouth to start telling her, then realized that maybe I shouldn't be sharing this news just yet. But Rory was my kid, and any future kid that resulted from my plans with Luke would impact her directly. She needed to know. Still, I felt I needed to clear it with Luke first. "Hang on a second," I said as I pulled out my phone and dialed Luke's number.

"Who could you be calling? You're about to tell me some big news and you have to stop to make a phone call?" she asked incredulously.

"Just a second, okay?" I said, hoping the apology was understood.

"Hello?" Luke finally picked up after the fourth ring.

"Luke! Hi, it's me."

"Lorelai? What's up?" He asked, his interest piqued. He knew I barely ever called him. If I needed something, I'd just ask when I stopped in throughout the day.

"Well, I'm sitting here with Rory."

"Hi Luke!" Rory called loud enough that Luke could hear her.

"Um, Hi, Rory," he said, still unsure of what was going on.

"He says hi back" Rory smiled in appreciation. "So, I'm sitting here with Rory and I was about to tell her about our plan, and then I realized that maybe I should check with you first. I mean, I figure it's probably a given that we won't tell many people until it's time, but I just figured since Rory is Rory, she should probably know." I realized I was rambling and tried to get to the point. "So this is me asking for your blessing to tell Rory."

I heard silence on the other line, but I could tell he was considering what I had said. I didn't want to pressure him, so I remained silent as well. After another few beats, he said "Uhm, yeah, of course you should tell Rory. This would be her brother or sister, so she should know."

I smiled at his answer. "Thanks. Those are my thoughts exactly."

"Ok. So you're going to tell her."

"Yes. Right now. Once we hang up the phone."

Another silent beat. "Okay. I'll still see you tomorrow night?"

"I will be there with bells on."

"Please don't wear bells," he said, knowing I would unless he put the brakes on it.

I sighed in fake annoyance. "Fine. Bye, Luke!"

"Bye," he grunted out before hanging up.

Rory stared at me with interest. "Alright, now I'm really curious. What kind of thing do you have with Luke that you need his permission to share?"

I took a calming breath before beginning. "Before I tell you, remember that we are in a public place and any outburst could result in your being banned from Fernando's and his tacos. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Rory frowned and said "No, I wouldn't want that."

I strummed my fingers on the table in front of me nervously. Before I finally chewed a hole through my lip, I began to explain the plan to Rory. "So, you know that you are the sunshine of my life and I will never be able to have any other children as great as you, right?"

"Yes. Go on."

"Well, Luke and I are going to try."

She stared at me for a few moments. "What?" she asked as if she hadn't heard me at all.

"Luke and I, we're going to try to have a baby."

"Okay, so this is funny, but when are you going to tell me what's actually going on?"

I reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "Rory, I'm telling you the truth. I'm getting older and I won't be able to have kids for much longer. And Luke has always wanted kids too, so it just makes sense. We are such great friends, why not have a kid together too?"

She studied my face for a minute, probably trying to see if I was bluffing, or getting ready to yell "you've been punked!" When I didn't make a move, her eyes grew wider and she said "you're serious, aren't you? You're really going to do this."

"Of course."

She sat and thought for a moment before saying carefully, "Mom, I understand you want more kids and that Luke would make a great dad. He has definitely been a great fill in for me over the years. I just want you to be careful."

"Honey, I will. But that's the great thing about this. We're not in a romantic relationship, so we can't break up."

"You think you can't, but you can. Just because you're only friends doesn't mean you can't lose the relationship you do have."

I considered what she said, and promised to keep it in mind, but I just knew everything would be fine. Maybe I was seeing the situation through rose colored glasses, but I just couldn't see anything going wrong. We said our goodbyes after I dropped her off at Yale. I headed home, even more excited about the next night's events.

The next day dragged on forever. Luke and I agreed at breakfast that I would come over after he closed up, around 9:30. I had a plan in place for making sure no one saw me sneaking into Luke's after hours. I took all the back roads and walked through dark alleys, having flash backs to the day Rory and I went to Luke's after she broke up with Dean. Luke gave me a spare key to his side door, and I let myself in quietly just as he finished wiping the counter down for the last time.

"Wow, it seems I have excellent timing." I leaned on the door frame between the diner and the stairwell. He left the rag on the counter and walked over to me, very slowly. "Are you nervous?"

He stopped in front of me and placed his hands in his back pockets. "Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"Yes. I'm nervous."

"About what?" I didn't tell him that I was nervous too.

"Seriously?"

"Well, are you nervous about making a baby and becoming a father? Or are you nervous about the physical act of baby making?"

"Geez, Lorelai!" he groaned and adjusted the hat on his head anxiously.

"Just trying to lighten the mood." We stood and stared at each other for a few awkward moments. "So… should we go upstairs?"

"Oh! Yeah, I guess so. Yes. Let's go upstairs." He climbed the stairs and I followed, suddenly noticing how hot his ass looked in those jeans. Well, at least my mind was on the right track.

We stepped into the apartment and he closed the door behind me. I looked around, noticing how tidy everything was. I wondered if he had straightened up just for me. I couldn't help but notice the full sized bed, still smaller than my queen but much better than his old twin.

"When did you upgrade your bedroom situation?" I asked as I put my purse on the table and hung my coat on the back of a chair.

He seemed embarrassed as he said, "Oh, um, a year ago, I guess." I could tell he was lying. For the second time that night, I wondered if he had done something nice just for me. "So, did you bring your stuff with you?"

"My stuff?"

"I mean your pajamas and bathroom stuff so you can get ready for bed and then work in the morning."

"Oh," I said a little taken aback. "I didn't realize you meant for me to stay over. I didn't bring anything with me."

"Sorry, I just assumed. You could, if you wanted to."

"I don't have to work tomorrow, so I could just head home in the morning. I just don't have anything to sleep in."

"You can just borrow one of my shirts," he said, pulling a clean flannel off of a hanger and handing it to me.

I took it from him and ran the soft material through my fingers. "Thanks, but I don't think I'm going to need this right now." I dropped it next to the bed and walked up to him, placing my hands on his chest and giving him sweet kisses all along his jaw.

He cleared his throat, clearly in a haze and asked "Sh- um – shouldn't we talk about this first?" He put his hands around my waist and pulled me closer.

"We can talk later." I played with the curls and the back of his head and pushed his hat off. I pulled my head back and looked him in the eyes. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," he said in a low voice, eyelids heavy. I withdrew myself from his embrace, crossed my arms in front of me, and pulled my shirt off in one swift motion. Luke stared for a moment, then gathered me back up in his arms and kissed me.

The kiss was slow and careful at first. Suddenly, as it heated up and became more urgent, I wanted nothing more than to feel his skin on mine. I unbuttoned his shirt as quickly as I could and stripped him of his t-shirt. We entangled ourselves again and stumbled backwards until my legs hit the edge of the bed and we fell back together.

Afterwards, we lay in bed, a mess of sheets, legs, and arms. I reluctantly broke the comfortable silence we found ourselves in.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?" he grunted in response, eyes half closed.

"We have to talk."

"Ok," he said, but made no moves to pay attention.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Luke!"

"Yes, yeah, sorry." He sat up next to me and at least acted as if he was paying attention.

"I just wanted to make sure we talked about everything before we fell asleep."

"Sure, yeah, that makes sense. What do you want to talk about?"

I readjusted the sheet to make sure I was completely covered. "Well, logistics and stuff I guess. I should get you a calendar of the days I'm most likely to get pregnant. We should probably get together a day before and a day after just to make sure we've got all the fertile days covered."

"That sounds like a plan." He made no moves to dispute my proposal to have sex for five nights in a row every month.

I smiled a little at his prompt agreement. "And, you've already said you want me to sleep here when I come over."

He gave me his full attention. "I just feel like if you come here, we, uh, get together, and then you just go back to your own place, it'll feel cheap. I don't want to make you feel cheap."

I grinned at his thoughtfulness and kissed him sweetly. "Let's go to sleep, Luke."

"No arguments here." We snuggled back under the covers and settled in for the night, the borrowed flannel forgotten on the floor right where I dropped it earlier in the evening. The last thought that crossed my mind before I drifted off to sleep was how much our time together that night felt a lot more romantic and intimate that I expected it to.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: I was a little sad myself when writing this chapter, so I hope it doesn't come across too much. My baby girl is turning FOUR on Wednesday! I know that's a happy thing, but I just can't believe she's already so old. Anyway, this chapter may have a strong T rating near the end, but I think I was able to keep it mild enough. Happy reading!

It had been two weeks since our first of five nights together. Really, four nights would have been more than enough but neither of us was going to argue against throwing in another extra night just for fun. Really, that's what we were having: a whole lot of hot, sexy fun while (hopefully) making a baby at the same time. Two weeks later, and I couldn't wait to see if our efforts were successful. I wanted to be patient, though, because I didn't want to get my hopes up just to be disappointed by a negative test. Luke, on the other hand, surprised me with the nonexistent patience he turned out to have.

"So, when can you find out?" he asked cryptically in the middle of a conversation about the hard time I was having choosing light fixtures for the inn. He refilled my coffee and cleared my empty plate.

"When can I find out what?" I asked, perplexed.

He cleared his throat and repeated himself in a low voice, "You know, when can you, uhm, find out if you're," he gestured strangely to my midsection which was hidden by the counter.

I giggled a little and smiled. "Not really for another week or so. Any test I take now wouldn't be reliable."

"But there are, uh, tests, that you can take?"

"There are a couple that claim to be able to tell this early in the game, but like I said, I don't know if I would trust them or not. We're better off just waiting a little while longer."

He sighed almost inaudibly. "Okay. To-go cup?" he asked, holding up the coffee pot, already pulling out a cup in anticipation of my answer

"Absolutely. Thank you." I stood up, accepted the cup, paid my bill and tipped too much, and left for another long day of inn building.

With as impatient as Luke was at the diner that morning, I know I shouldn't have been so surprised to see him show up to the inn with a small paper bag a few hours later. He tried to hide it awkwardly under his arm as he dodged all the construction men in his search for me.

"Luke!" I called out to him. He stopped and turned to find where I shouted from and I approached him from behind, tapped him on the shoulder, and laughed as he jumped a foot in the air. He dropped the bag and the contents threatened to spill out.

"Geez, Lorelai! Give me a heart attack, why don't you," he grumbled out as he hastily stuffed his purchases back in the bag and stood up.

"You're a little jumpy today," I smirked at him and patted his arm, hoping I was calming him some.

He ran a hand over his forehead and looked around. "Is there somewhere we can go around here that's private?"

"In my half constructed inn with dozens of construction guys lurking everywhere? No, there's nowhere private. Why, are you feeling a little randy?" I teased.

"Lorelai!" he whispered forcefully. "No, I just have something for you and it's not something I can give you out here, with all these people watching."

I looked at the bag more curious now. "Did you drive? We could just go in your truck."

"Yeah, okay, that's fine." I followed him to his truck and let him help me in the passenger's side. After ensuring that I was safely inside and my door was securely closed, he hopped into the driver's side, closed the door, and locked us both in.

"Are you worried someone's going to try to break in?"

He fumbled the brown paper bag in his hands and sighed. "I just don't want," he started. "I'm afraid someone will," he tried again, then changed his mind. "Here." He handed me the bag without looking.

I took it and opened it up. Inside, I found a box of mallomars, and a First Response pregnancy test. I could hardly contain how touched I was that he went out and bought these things. "Luke, I can't believe you did this for me. Where did you go to get it? I'm sure it wasn't Doose's or you would never hear the end of it."

"I went to Litchfield. I felt stupid buying just the test so I wanted to get something else to go with it. Then I remembered your thing with mallomars."

"I can't believe you did this for me," I said again, a little quieter. "Thank you." I looked over at him, hoping he caught the sincere gratitude in my expression. He looked back with a small smile.

"I know you said these things can't really be trusted, but I was hoping you'd take it anyway."

"Of course. I'm anxious to know too."

"Do you have a bathroom around here?"

"Nothing except the porta-potties."

"Do you have a few minutes? We could go somewhere for lunch."

"You mean somewhere besides the diner?" I asked, not sure how I felt about being somewhere intimate outside of Stars Hollow with Luke. I knew I wanted to, but I wasn't sure I was supposed to want to.

"We can't exactly be private about it at the diner." I accepted his logic without questioning his oversight of the perfectly private apartment just above the diner. Maybe Luke just wanted to take me to lunch for a possible celebration of a bun in my oven. I looked back at the construction going on, my absence making no difference to the workers.

"Yeah, I've got some time."

"Do you have everything with you?"

"Uhm, yeah, I don't bring much with me to the constructions zone. I wouldn't want to risk my purse being plastered into the wall or whatever."

"Great. I know a little place in Woodbridge that's nice, but not so nice we need to change."

"Sounds perfect."

The drive only took about fifteen minutes, but it felt like an hour. My mind was running all over the place with possibilities and what-ifs. What if it was positive? How would we tell the town? That would be fun. How would we tell my parents? That would NOT be fun. Would it be a boy or a girl? I would love another girl, I know them so well. I could just imagine daddy's little girl napping peacefully on Luke's chest after a hard day of playing. A boy would be great too, though. I could see Luke teaching our son how to build a birdhouse and helping him to mount it outside the kitchen window.

But what if it was negative?

I didn't want to think about that unless I had to. We pulled into the parking lot of a small but busy restaurant. I realized my lack of purse meant that I didn't have a way to hide my paper bag, so I hid it under my arm awkwardly just like Luke had done earlier. As soon as drink orders were placed, I told Luke my lunch order so he could relay it to the waiter and made a beeline for the bathroom. After shutting myself in a stall, I familiarized myself with the pregnancy test from this decade, and went to work. When I was finished, I wrapped the end in a napkin, secured it in the waistband of my pants since my pockets were too small, and headed back to the table.

"Well?" Luke asked discretely when I sat back down.

"We have to wait five minutes." We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, Luke checking his watch every ten seconds. When five minutes were up, I reached to pull the stick from my waistband at the exact moment that the waiter decided to bring out our food.

She set the plates down and walked away again. I looked around to make sure that everyone else was absorbed in their own business. Satisfied that our corner table offered enough privacy, I reached for the test again and put it on the table, pulling a cloth napkin on top of it in case the waiter decided to surprise us again.

"Did you see what it said?" Luke asked hopefully.

"No, I didn't get a good enough look at it."

We sat there and stared at the napkin nervously for a few minutes. The waiter came back over to see how the food was and gave us a confused look when he noticed we hadn't even touched our food yet. We promised him everything was great just to make him go away again. "It's now or never," I said, and finally lifted the napkin enough that we could both see what was underneath.

Not Pregnant.

I dropped the napkin again and looked across the table at Luke. The expression on his face broke my heart, almost more than the negative result had. He looked back at me and could see how disappointed I was too.

"Hey, there's always next time, right? It doesn't usually happen the first time anyway. At least, that's what I've heard." His attempt to comfort me brought a smile to my face.

"You're right. Try and try again." We ate our lunch in silence, our appetites significantly smaller than when we first got there. I had Luke drop me off at home, no longer in any mood to work on inn stuff. I invited him in to wallow with a movie, but he had to get back to the diner. He had already been gone an hour longer than he told Cesar he would be.

In what felt like no time at all, my second round of fertile days came and I found myself in Luke's apartment after hours.

"Hey," Luke said as he joined me a few minutes later. He closed and locked the apartment door and walked over to me. I stood from my place on the couch and greeted him with a long kiss.

"Are you ready?" I asked when I pulled back, already unbuttoning his shirt.

With his hands on my sides, actively holding me back, he said "Can't we sit and talk first? It just feels weird to get straight into it."

"I know you're concerned about making me fee cheap, but this is fine, Luke, I swear," I replied, running my hands along his back, under his t-shirt.

He grabbed my arms and extricated them from their quest for his rear end. "Just humor me, okay?"

"Okay." We sat back down on the couch, him on the end and me in the middle. "What do you want to talk about?" I placed my hand on his thigh, not hiding the fact that I was trying to distract him from talking in any way that I could.

He swallowed a little harder than normal. "Uhm, how's Rory doing at Yale?"

"We keep missing each other, but I think she's doing fine. She hasn't said anything to make me think otherwise in any of her voicemails."

"That's good." He kept glancing down at my hand, steadily grazing higher and higher along his inner thigh.

"Yale is a hard school. A very hard school," I said, with extra emphasis on hard.

"Right. Hard, uh, tough school."

"You know what else is hard?" I asked teasingly as I looked down and saw the significant bulge in his jeans.

He cleared his throat. "What?"

Before my hand could reach its final destination, he grabbed my wrist, pushed me down on the couch, and pinned it above my head. He kissed me soundly, then moved his attention to my neck and downward. I giggled a little and said "I thought you wanted to talk?"

Between nips, he replied "Evil, evil woman."

I decided to look at the bright side of things; if the test had to be negative, at least that meant we got to continue having hot, sexy fun every month.


End file.
